And it underscores why the president's lawyers are fearful of allowing Trump to sit down for an interview with Mueller's team, as Trump has repeatedly said he is interested in doing.

In his letter, McRaven praised Brennan as "one of the finest public servants I have ever known".

McRaven echoed those sentiments, arguing in his op-ed that Trump has "embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation". Last year, in a speech at the University of Texas, he pushed back against Trump's assault on the news media as "the enemy of the American people".

"It's a disgusting thing, frankly", he said.

After the White House said Brennan - a notable Trump critic - had been stripped of clearance due to his "erratic" behavior, Trump admitted it was because of his criticism and comments on the Trump campaign's ties with Russian Federation. It's a totally rigged deal. They should be looking at the other side.

Trump turned his ire towards former Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr for communicating with the phony dossier investigator Christopher Steele after he was sacked from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and working with Russian oligarchs.

The list of former senior intelligence officials who signed the letter includes James Clapper, a former Director of National Intelligence, and seven CIA Directors including Robert Gates, William Webster, George Tenet, Porter Goss, Michael Hayden, Leon Panetta and David Petraeus. I've said it for a long time.

President Trump said he expects to "quickly" revoke the security clearance for the Justice Department official whose wife worked for the firm involved in producing the dossier on Trump's ties to Russian Federation. "I suspect I'll be taking it away very quickly", Trump told reporters on the South Lawn before leaving the White House for NY.

Brennan wrote: "Trump clearly has become more desperate to protect himself and those close to him, which is why he made the politically motivated decision to revoke my security clearance in an attempt to scare into silence others who might dare to challenge him".

If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken.

"Mr. Brennan's lying and recent conduct characterized by increasingly frenzied commentary is wholly inconsistent with access to the nations' most closely held secrets", Trump said.

McRaven was commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014, and oversaw the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.